British army sends reinforcements to help Belgium with drone investigation

The British army is sending experts and equipment to Belgium to assist in the investigation of multiple suspicious drone flights over Belgian airports.

Richard Knighton, head of the British armed forces, said direct cooperation was decided at the request of his Belgian counterpart.

“The defence secretary and I have agreed to send our teams and equipment to support our Belgian partners,” Knighton told the BBC, without specifying the number of military personnel deployed or the nature of the equipment involved.

The mysterious drone sightings particularly affected Brussels and Liège airports, forcing several planes to divert or remain grounded last Tuesday and continuing delays into Wednesday. They also occurred above several military bases.

The Belgian authorities have not yet identified anyone responsible, but the incidents come amid European tension over unidentified drone activity. Similar disruptions also hit Germany and Sweden in recent days, forcing the temporary closure of several terminals.

While no serious leads have yet been confirmed, some observers have raised the possibility of "hybrid warfare" operations carried out by Russia.

When asked about this, Knighton pointed out that Moscow had used such tactics in the past. The Kremlin denies any involvement.

On Friday, the German defence minister suggested a link between these new incidents and European discussions on the use of frozen Russian assets.

Some of these funds pass through Euroclear, the Brussels-based financial institution where hundreds of billions of euros belonging to the Russian state are held.

The latest sighting occurred on Saturday over Liège airport, where air traffic was interrupted for about half an hour.

The repeated flyovers have a direct impact on freight transport, according to TLS Express, which handles customs clearance and delivery of parcels unloaded from aircraft.

“The drones flying over the airport have slowed us down by roughly two to three hours compared to our usual speed,” said owner Patrick Hollenfeltz.

“If these disruptions are sporadic, we can manage. But if these schedule changes become more and more frequent, it’s a big problem for our business.”

The issue comes at a critical time, with the most important sales period of the year set to begin on Black Friday and continue into the Christmas holiday season.